Fred Hatfield did all his meet prep training at 80%+. Josh Bryant’s typical setup would involve a top set of 1-3 reps at 85%+ followed by explosive submax work (which is what he refers to as “CAT sets”) with usually 70-75%. But the basic concept with CAT is that on compound movements you should apply maximum force into every rep for the maximum training effect and to train your body for maximum output, since the main objective is to increase your 1rm.
Yea, for instance I’d work heavy singles focusing on form and explosive power but never a max effort. During my last prep meet, each week I’d work somewhere in the 500-560 range in the squat knowing 600 was within reach. I’d try and be as explosive as possible, even pausing those singles at the bottom. It worked well. 601 squat in the contest.
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Funny you should mention it… I actually have a Google Sheets file I built that, to an extent, does a lot of these things. I’ve been running a beta version with a bunch of guys from the gym and have had some great feedback. I’ve been considering offering it as a product once I have a final version I’m happy with, along with maybe a short e-book or something similar like you mentioned.
Side detail… this stuff is really just sort of a hobby for me, but I’m an engineering PhD so maybe that explains the level of detail coming from someone with “no formal education in the topic”.
Malanichev actually came to our gym for a seminar last summer, got a ton of good info from him to apply to my training. Regarding the 1 top work set stuff, something he did make a point to mention is that he uses that method because that’s what works for him now (i.e. being at the top of the sport and with 30 years of training experience). His past training had more frequency and volume, but as his experience and injury risk increased he had to reduce it. Reinforces the idea of not emulating what the person at the top is doing, emulate what they did to get there.
That’s exactly what the current AI coaching systems use is a huge excel spread sheet that’s set up to adjust based on feed back you enter. I think the main thing is if ppl are making consistent gains and staying healthy and injury free then you have something to sell. I’ve gotten where I look at programs and can almost predict at what point I’ll be injured if I followed it lol. In any case it’s a great piece of work. Thanks for sharing it Bro!
Yeah for sure, I’m not going to try to train like Malanichev. Most people would lose muscle mass with such low volume, you need lots of drugs to be able to train like that. There’s an interview with him where he looks about 50lbs. lighter, he says he cuts weight in the offseason and bulks back up leading into a meet.
But I think in some cases you can get more gains out of less work. Like in my case, in the past I tried deadlifting 2-3 times a week with lots of volume and progress was slow. At some point I tried a lower volume approach, doing either 2 work sets or one hard set and a few singles at 80%, then a set or two of some variation (deficit DL seems to work well) and I started making progress like that again.
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I’d love to see that if you’re willing to share.
DM me your email address on IG and I’ll send you a copy. Was originally planning on just sharing this first version with local guys but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to get some feed back from a few of you all. How about… next 3 people to ask I’ll share it with them.
BTW… yes I do have a copy protection functionality built in… which I why I’m okay sharing it with internet friends.
I’m always interested in new, shiny things. I was previously running conjugate prior to my foot injury and really enjoy that style of training. I’m currently in week 1 of an 8 week program, but I’d be interested in giving your program a run afterwards. I don’t have IG, but I can post up my email if your 3 copies haven’t been given already.
Yep if you’re okay with posting it publicly that’s works for me
I’d like to try it I’d be ok with posting my email if that’s ok with you.
That works for me!
Posting e-mail addresses on the forum isn’t allowed.
Members can post contact info (e-mail, social media pages, whatever) in the About Me section of their profile.
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Right on!
Thanks for the clarification @Chris_Colucci!